


Gone to the future

by RembrandtsWife



Series: Short visits to Wakanda [1]
Category: Black Panther (2018), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bucky Barnes Recovering, Bucky Barnes-centric, Bucky's exotic white-person hair, Friendship, Gen, Shuri is smarter than a Stark, Wakanda
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-20
Updated: 2018-02-20
Packaged: 2019-03-21 13:19:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13741752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RembrandtsWife/pseuds/RembrandtsWife
Summary: Bucky and Shuri go for a walk in the city.





	Gone to the future

"The Dora Milaje are not to protect others from you, Sergeant." T'Challa, as always, was quiet and earnest. "They are to protect you from others." He tilted his head. "Consider them... an honor guard."

Bucky didn't feel he needed either protection or honor, but that wasn't up to him. Besides, it wasn't like he could blend in with the crowd, could he? Not even with his Wakandan clothes and braided hair. Shuri had laughed with delight when she saw the multiple braids and decorated him further with strings of beads over his hair and around his neck.

"Your hair is so unusual and exotic, Bucky! Most Wakandans have never seen or felt hair like yours."

Walking the streets with Princess Shuri, the king's younger sister, reconciled Bucky to the two terrifying spear-carrying women at their backs. Those gleaming leaf-shaped spearheads were made of the same stuff as Steve's shield, vibranium. The Wakandans did amazing things with vibranium, stuff Howard Stark couldn't have imagined in his wildest dreams.

Having Shuri at his elbow, pointing out the sights, occasionally taking his arm, laughing and making fun of him, brought back memories of his own sisters. Shuri was even more of a smart-mouth than Becca had been. She also, at sixteen years old, had the equivalent of multiple doctorates in multiple sciences and was on the cutting edge of design in Wakanda's engineering and medical fields. Which put her at the cutting edge of design in the world.

The city was crowded and noisy and beautiful. The people were beautiful, their faces proud and open, everyone dressed like they were going to church back in Bucky's youth. People talked, shouted, laughed, and sang. Musicians and dancers performed in the open squares, and Bucky remembered how the best swing dancers he used to see were always colored people, as they used to say. The air smelled of grilled meat, spices, vanilla and sandalwood perfumes, moving bodies.

Shuri put something into his hand and pushed his hand toward his mouth. Bucky bit into it--unfamiliar fruit, lush and tart, so juicy he had to wipe his mouth right away--and only then realized how much trust he had just shown, not just in the princess, but in everyone around him. Wakanda was the one place in the world where Hydra had never been, would never gain entry.

"Your neighbors tell me you eat more fruit than anyone." The delicate white dots of Shuri's makeup accentuated the impishness of her smile.

One of the Dora Milaje said something that made the other one and the princess laugh. Bucky suspected it had something to do with his shitting good and regular. "Well, I went about forty years without any, so I built up a pretty big craving."

They ambled on from the stall where Shuri had obtained the fruit. Bucky looked up at a shadow that passed over the crowds and saw something he'd been waiting over seventy years to see.

He laughed.

The two guards looked almost as startled as the princess. When was the last time he'd really laughed out loud?

"What is it, Bucky?" Shuri laid a hand on his arm. He chuckled.

"It's okay. I'm just glad somebody finally developed a flying car."

**Author's Note:**

> I'm rembrandtswife on Tumblr, and I support black writers and artists making fan works of Black Panther.


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